And A Happy 5th of July To You!

Hoping everyone is having a wonderful July 4th
weekend. Another anniversary occurs this weekend, albeit one far less
significant – today is the 7th anniversary of Pleasant Family
Shopping, which began on July 5, 2007.



Over those seven years, 315 posts have appeared (a too-small
percentage of them appearing in 2013 and 2014 – a trend I hope to reverse), and
as always, your comments have

My Trip to the French Market.

It was the happiest of coincidences. In the late summer of
2010, I spent a day in the Kansas City area visiting customers with a co-worker
who was based there. Most of our meetings were on the “Kansas side” of town (as
opposed to the “Missouri side”), which was largely new to me at the time.  We wrapped up in the late afternoon and
adjourned to a local

Chicago's "Big Snow", January 1967

One of the most storied events in Chicagoland history took
place 47 years ago this week. From early morning on January 26, 1967 through
about 10am the following day, 23 inches of snow fell, and a city that had long
prided itself on an ability to push through harsh winters was brought to a
standstill. There have been other record-setting snowstorms in Chicago in the
years since – in 1979, 2011,